MARVIN GAYE IS SHOT AND KILLED - POP SINGER'S FATHER FACES CHARGE - NYTimes.com MARVIN GAYE IS SHOT AND KILLED MARVIN GAYE IS SHOT AND KILLED; POP SINGER'S FATHER FACES CHARGE Published: April 2, 1984 LOS ANGELES, April 1— Marvin Gaye, who blended the soul music of the urban scene with the beat of the old- time gospel singer and became an influential force in pop music, was shot to death today. The singer, who would have been 45 years old Monday, died of bullet wounds in his chest at 1:01 this afternoon at the California Hospital Medical Center. Police officials booked his father, the Rev. Marvin Gaye Sr., 70, an Apostolic minister, for investigation of murder. The elder Mr. Gaye was being held without bail. Lieut. Bob Martin of the Los Angeles Police Department said the singer was in his father's home about 12:30 P.M.

when the men ''became involved in a verbal dispute that led to a physical altercation, pushing and shoving.'' Subsequently, Lieutenant Martin asserted, the singer's father got a pistol that was in his home and fired several shots at his son. Reports of Problems Lieutenant Martin said he did not know why an argument might have occurred, but said there were indications that there had been ''bad blood'' between the father and son recently. Although the officer gave no details, he said a report had been filed with the Police Department recently alleging that ''some kind of an assault'' involving the son had occurred at his parents' home. Lieutenant Martin declined to comment on a report circulated by neighbors that the argument involved a birthday party that had been planned for the singer Monday. The singer, who was born in Washington on April 2, 1939, played the organ in church as a child. He later joined the generation of black performers including Diana Ross and Gladys Knight and the Pips who, in the 1960's and 1970's, skyrocketed to fame out of Detroit under the Motown label. Among his early hits was ''I Heard It Through the Grapevine'' in 1968.

It was re-issued this year and featured in the soundtrack of the film ''The Big Chill.'' His career soared in the mid-1960's, when he teamed with Tammi Terrell for ''You're All I Need to Get By,'' ''Your Precious Love'' and ''Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing.'' Miss Terrell collapsed in his arms on stage at a concert in 1967. After she died of a brain tumor three years later, Mr. Gaye briefly retreated from the limelight. Mr. Gaye was married to Anna Gordy, the sister of Berry Gordy Jr., the Motown entrepreneur, but they divorced in 1976 with Anna receiving $600,000 in royalties from the singer. He filed for bankruptcy and encountered tax difficulties. Mr. Gaye was married a second time to Janis Hunter, with whom he had two children. He had said he once tried to kill himself by ingesting more than an ounce of pure cocaine while in Hawaii following the breakup of that marriage. Mr. Gaye had increased the pace of his performing and recording in this country over the past year after spending an extended period of time in Europe.

In 1981, CBS Records tracked him down in Europe and bought his Motown contract for a reported $2 million. While Mr. Gaye started recording in Belgium, legal advisers at home made arrangements to clear up his debts in the United States. Mr. Gaye gained renewed fame for several sexually explicit hits, including ''Let's Get It On,'' and ''Sexual Healing,'' which won him two Grammy awards last year. Even before these hits, however, many pop music critics had written that Mr. Gaye's role as one of the most influential singers in the field was firmly established. Combined Forms of Music At his best, critics said, Mr. Gaye combined the soulful directness of gospel music, the sweetness of soft-soul and pop, and the vocal musicianship of a jazz singer. Among the singers who have said to have been influenced by Mr. Gaye was Michael Jackson. Mr. Gaye told a reporter 11 months ago ''Repeating yourself is boring.'' ''But being a bit, let's say, 'far out,' I do tend to shock people with my albums and singles,'' he said.

''It's been that way since I became my own man, when I recorded 'What's Going On.' '' That album, considered a milestone of 1970's pop, was the first collection of protest material from a major black pop singer, and its outspokenness surprised many fans who had learned to expect danceable love songs, rather than social commentary, from the Motown label. It was then that he changed pace again, recording the series of sexually explicit songs. Mr. Gaye said last year that he had always resented being categorized. He said that while the singers Ray Charles and James Brown had been early inspirations of his, he also enjoyed the work of Peggy Lee and Barbra Streisand. ''I don't feel I have to conform to any particular expectations,'' he said. ''But I would like for my music to raise people's consciousness, rather than lower it, to give people hope.'' Friends said Mr. Gaye had been working on a new album.

photo of Marvin Gaye Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his own father - Apr 01, 1984 - HISTORY.com Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his own father Share this: Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his own father Author Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his own father URL Publisher A+E Networks At the peak of his career, Marvin Gaye was the Prince of Motown—the soulful voice behind hits as wide-ranging as “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” and “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology).” Like his label-mate Stevie Wonder, Gaye both epitomized and outgrew the crowd-pleasing sound that made Motown famous. Over the course of his roughly 25-year recording career, he moved successfully from upbeat pop to “message” music to satin-sheet soul, combining elements of Smokey Robinson, Bob Dylan and Barry White into one complicated and sometimes contradictory package. But as the critic Michael Eric Dyson put it, the man who “chased away the demons of millions…with his heavenly sound and divine art” was chased by demons of his own throughout his life.

That life came to a tragic end on this day 1984, when Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his own father one day short of his 45th birthday. If the physical cause of Marvin Gaye’s death was straightforward—”Gunshot wound to chest perforating heart, lung and liver,” according to the Los Angeles County Coroner—the events that led to it were much more tangled. On the one hand, there was the longstanding conflict with his father dating back to childhood. Marvin Gay, Sr., (the “e” was added by his son for his stage name) was a preacher in the Hebrew Pentecostal Church and a proponent of a strict moral code he enforced brutally with his four children. He was also, by all accounts, a hard-drinking cross-dresser who personally embodied a rather complicated model of morality. By some reports, Marvin Sr. harbored significant envy over his son’s tremendous success, and Marvin Jr. clearly harbored unresolved feelings toward his abusive father. Those feelings spilled out for the final time in the Los Angeles home of Marvin Gay, Sr., and his wife Alberta.

Their son the international recording star had moved into his parents’ home in late 1983 at a low point in his struggle with depression, debt and cocaine abuse. Only one year removed from his first Grammy win and from a triumphant return to the pop charts with “Sexual Healing,” Marvin Gaye was in horrible physical, psychological and financial shape, and now he found himself living in the same house as the man who must have been at the root of many of his struggles. After an argument between father and son escalated into a physical fight on the morning of April 1, 1984, Alberta Gay was trying to calm her son in his bedroom when Marvin Sr. took a revolver given to him by Marvin Jr. and shot him three times in his chest.

Marvin Gaye’s brother, Frankie, who lived next door, and who held the legendary singer during his final minutes, later wrote in his memoir that Marvin Gaye’s final, disturbing statement was, “I got what I wanted….I couldn’t do it myself, so I made him do it.” Related Videos MARVIN GAYE SHOT AND KILLED -BY HIS FATHER | RareSoul.com MARVIN GAYE SHOT AND KILLED -BY HIS FATHER Posted by RareSoul Staff on 04/01/2013 Singer Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father Marvin Gay Sr. today (April 1, 1984). Marvin Gaye had just finished his “Sexual Healing Tour,” and took up residence in his parents house, as he organized his finances after an extensive stay in Belgium, to avoid paying taxes. Marvin had bought the house for his parents in 1975, and he had returned to the United States to help his mother, who was recovering from kidney surgery. It was a stressful time for Marvin Gaye, who was using cocaine and PCP. He also became paranoid over his beliefs that someone was attempting to take his life.

In addition to wearing a bulletproof vest, Marvin Gaye purchased several weapons, including an unlicensed .38 Smith & Wesson pistol, which was to be used to protect Marvin Gay Sr. from intruders and robbers. Tensions in the house grew over a misplaced insurance policy document, until they exploded into a shouting match between Marvin’s parents. A confrontation between the father and son ensued over the argument, which resulted in Marvin Gaye getting physical with his father. “Marvin hit him,” Marvin’s mother Alberta said. “I shouted for him to stop, but he paid no attention to me. He gave my husband some hard licks.” Eventually, Alberta separated the fighting men. Moments later Marvin Gaye’s father entered his son’s room with the .38 pistol, pointed the gun at Marvin and shot him. “I was standing about eight feet away from Marvin, when my husband came to the door of the bedroom with his pistol,” Alberta Gay told police. “My husband didn’t say anything, he just pointed the gun at Marvin. I screamed but it was very quick. He, my husband, shot – and Marvin screamed. I tried to run.

Marvin slid down to the floor after the first shot.” The first shot entered Marvin’s chest, perforated his right lung, heart diaphragm, liver stomach and left kidney. During an interview with David Ritz in 1979, Alberta Gaye said that her husband hated his son. “My husband never wanted Marvin, and he never liked him. He used to say that he didn’t think he was really his child,” Alberta Gay said in an interview prior to her son’s murder. “I told him that was nonsense. He knew Marvin was his. But for some reason, he didn’t love Marvin, and what’s worse, he didn’t want me to love Marvin either. Marvin wasn’t very old before he understood that,” Alberta said in 1979. Marvin Gaye was rushed to The California Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival, on the eve of his 45th birthday. An autopsy later revealed that Marvin Gaye had cocaine and minute traces of PCP in his system. Marvin Gay Sr. was arrested and charged with manslaughter and held on $100,000 bail. “If I could bring him back, I would. I was afraid of him.

I thought I was going to get hurt. I didn’t know what was going to happen. I’m really sorry for everything that happened,” Marvin Gay Sr. said. Marvin Gay Sr. was charged with first-degree murder, but he entered into a deal with prosecutors and pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter. He was given a six-year suspended sentenced and five years probation. Shortly afterwards, Alberta Gay files for divorce after 49 years of marriage to Marvin Gay Sr. April 01, 1984 : Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his own father Introduction At the peak of his career, Marvin Gaye was the Prince of Motown—the soulful voice behind hits as wide-ranging as “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” and “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology).” Like his label-mate Stevie Wonder, Gaye both epitomized and outgrew the crowd-pleasing sound that made Motown famous. Over the course of his roughly 25-year recording career, he moved successfully from upbeat pop to “message” music to satin-sheet soul, combining elements of Smokey Robinson, Bob Dylan and Barry White into one complicated and sometimes contradictory package.

But as the critic Michael Eric Dyson put it, the man who “chased away the demons of millions…with his heavenly sound and divine art” was chased by demons of his own throughout his life. That life came to a tragic end on this day 1984, when Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his own father one day short of his 45th birthday. If the physical cause of Marvin Gaye’s death was straightforward—”Gunshot wound to chest perforating heart, lung and liver,” according to the Los Angeles County Coroner—the events that led to it were much more tangled. On the one hand, there was the longstanding conflict with his father dating back to childhood. Marvin Gay, Sr., (the “e” was added by his son for his stage name) was a preacher in the Hebrew Pentecostal Church and a proponent of a strict moral code he enforced brutally with his four children. He was also, by all accounts, a hard-drinking cross-dresser who personally embodied a rather complicated model of morality. By some reports, Marvin Sr. harbored significant envy over his son’s tremendous success, and Marvin Jr. clearly harbored unresolved feelings toward his abusive father.

Those feelings spilled out for the final time in the Los Angeles home of Marvin Gay, Sr., and his wife Alberta. Their son the international recording star had moved into his parents’ home in late 1983 at a low point in his struggle with depression, debt and cocaine abuse. Only one year removed from his first Grammy win and from a triumphant return to the pop charts with “Sexual Healing,” Marvin Gaye was in horrible physical, psychological and financial shape, and now he found himself living in the same house as the man who must have been at the root of many of his struggles. After an argument between father and son escalated into a physical fight on the morning of April 1, 1984, Alberta Gay was trying to calm her son in his bedroom when Marvin Sr. took a revolver given to him by Marvin Jr. and shot him three times in his chest.

Marvin Gaye’s brother, Frankie, who lived next door, and who held the legendary singer during his final minutes, later wrote in his memoir that Marvin Gaye’s final, disturbing statement was, “I got what I wanted….I couldn’t do it myself, so I made him do it.” Article Details: April 01, 1984 : Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his own father Author April 01, 1984 : Marvin Gaye is shot and killed by his own father URL Remembering Marvin Gaye Share Search File - American soul singer Marvin Gaye walking ahead of his Rolls Royce in Notting Hill, London on October 6, 1976. His life came to a tragic end on April 1, 1984, when Gaye was shot and killed by his own father one day short of his 45th birthday. (Photo by John Minihan/Evening Standard/Getty Images) File - Singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye is winner of Favorite Soul/R&B Single, "Sexual Healing," at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, Calif., Jan. 17, 1983.

(AP Photo/Doug Pizac) File - This is an undated photo of soul singer Marvin Gaye in New York City. (AP Photo) Singer Marvin Gaye performs on opening night at Radio City Music Hall, May 17, 1983, New York. (AP Photo/Nancy Kaye) Marvin Gaye, right, with back up singer Paulette McWilliams at Radio City Music Hall, Tuesday, May 18, 1983, New York. (AP Photo/Nancy Kaye) Marvin Gaye performs at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, May 1983. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis) Marvin Gaye kisses his Grammy Award after he was named top Rhythm & Blues Male Vocalist at the 25th annual Grammy Awards presentation, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 1983, Los Angeles, Calif. Gaye received two Grammys for Best R & B Instrumental Performance and R & B Male Vocalist for his hit song Sexual Healing. (AP Photo) Soul singer Marvin Gaye is seen with his four-year-old son Frankie after arriving in London for a tour of Europe, June 1980.

(AP Photo/Press Association) Singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye, left, is shown with United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, right, and Shirley Temple Black, U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, at the United Nations in New York City, Monday, Oct. 13, 1975. Gaye was donating proceeds from his Sunday performance "Salute to the U.N." to UNESCO for an African literacy campaign. (AP Photo) File - American soul singer Marvin Gaye visits the Mangrove Cafe in All Saint's Road, London, and is mobbed by admirers on the way out to his car on October 1, 1976. (Photo by John Minihan/Evening Standard/Getty Images) Soul singer Marvin Gaye (1939 - 1984) in concert at the Royal Albert Hall on September 29, 1976. (Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images) Actress Nona Gaye performs a video duet with her late father, singer Marvin Gaye, during the NBA All-Star Saturday Night festivities on February 14, 2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

(Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images) Attorney Mark Levinsohn, far left, walks with the late singer, Marvin Gaye's family members, from left, daughter, Nona Gaye, ex-wife, Jan Gaye, and son, Frankie Gaye, outside the Los Angeles U.S. District Court after a jury awarded his children nearly $7.4 million after determining singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied their father's music to create "Blurred Lines," Tuesday, March 10, 2015. Gaye died in April 1984, leaving his children the copyrights to his music. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) In this May 5, 2011 photo, Marvin Gaye memorabilia is displayed at the Motown Historical Museum in Detroit. The Motown Historical Museum is celebrating the life and times, as well as the moves and grooves, of Marvin Gaye. The Detroit museum, located in the original home of Motown Records Corp., has unveiled an exhibit chronicling the legendary artist's two decades at Motown.

(AP Photo/Paul Sancya) In this May 5, 2011 photo, Marvin Gaye memorabilia is displayed at the Motown Historical Museum in Detroit. The Motown Historical Museum is celebrating the life and times, as well as the moves and grooves, of Marvin Gaye. The Detroit museum, located in the original home of Motown Records Corp., has unveiled an exhibit chronicling the legendary artist's two decades at Motown. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) British pop singers Seal, right, and Annie Lennox rehearse their duet of Marvin Gaye's soul classic "What's Goin' On" in front of a background portrait of the late singer, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 1996, in preparation for the 38th Annual Grammy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Actress Nona Gaye performs a video duet with her late father, singer Marvin Gaye, during the NBA All-Star Saturday Night festivities on February 14, 2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.

(Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images) This photo shows the funeral of Singer Marvin Gaye, April 5, 1984, Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/LIU) Motown Records found founder Barry Gordy offers consolation to his sister Anna Gordy Gaye first wife of the late singer Marvin Gaye, Jr., at a public visitation of Gaye's body on April 4, 1984 at Forrest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Singer Stevie Wonder speaks with friends and relatives of Marvin Gaye Jr. during funeral services for the late singer on April 6, 1984 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Gaye was slain in Los Angeles Sunday, the eve of his 45th birthday. (AP Photo/Heung Shing Jiu) Marvin Gaye Sr. stands in a courtroom during what was to be his arraignment on charges that he shot and killed his son, singer Marvin Gaye Jr., Wednesday, April 5, 1984, Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Heung Shing Liu) Singer Smokey Robinson shares his memories of Marvin Gaye Jr.

during funeral services for the late singer in Los Angeles, Calif., April 5, 1984. Gaye was slain by his father, Marvin Gay Sr., in his Los Angeles home, April 1, the eve of his 45th birthday. (AP Photo/Liu Heung Shing) Friends of the late singer Marvin Gaye Jr. bring the casket into the funeral service home at Forrest Lawn Memorial Park, in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 5, 1984. (AP Photo/Heung Shing Liu) Some of the estimated mouring 8, 000 turned out to pay their last respects to the late singer Marvin Gaye Jr. line Church of the Hills for public visitation of the body on April 4, 1984 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) FILE - In this April 4, 1984 file photo, Marvin Gaye III escorts his mother Anna Gordy Gaye to the public visitation of the late Marvin Gaye Jr.'s body, at Forrest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

(AP Photo/Nick Ut, File) Police and Los Angeles County Coroners Officials remove the body of singer Marvin Gaye from a Los Angeles hospital after he was pronounced dead after being shot at his parents home, Sunday, April 1, 1984, Los Angeles, Calif. Gayes father, Marvin Gaye, Sr., is being questioned in connection with the shooting. The men in the photo are unidentified. (AP Photo/Nick UT) A Los Angeles Police Department Homicide detective leads Marvin Gaye, Sr. into LAPD Central headquaters in Downtown Los Angeles on April 2, 1984. The senior Gaye was booked in the investigation of the shooting death of his son, singer Marvin Gaye. (AP Photo/Lennox Mclendon) Los Angeles police officers, neighbors and fans stand in front of the home of singer Marvin Gaye's parent's on April 1, 1984 in Los Angeles where he was shot and killed Sunday afternoon near the downtown section of Los Angeles. Gaye's father Marvin Gaye senior is being questioned by police in connection with the shooting. (AP Photo/Michael Tweed) FILE - In this Jan.

20, 2006 photo, 45's and photographs, including Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder in photo at right, are displayed at the Motown Museum gallery in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Actress Nona Gaye, daughter of singer Marvin Gaye, sings the National Anthem, during the 2004 NBA All-Star at Staples Center, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2004, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/ Kevork Djansezian) FILE - In this Tuesday, March 10, 2015 file photo, Marvin Gaye's daughter, Nona Gaye, left, and his ex-wife, Jan Gaye, take questions from the media outside Los Angeles U.S.

District Court, after a jury awarded the singer's children nearly $7.4 million after determining singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied their father's music to create "Blurred Lines." Marvin Gaye’s family is seeking to stop the distribution of “Blurred Lines.” Gaye’s children filed a motion in court Tuesday, March 17, 2015, to prevent the copying, distributing and performing of the hit song featuring Pharrell, Robin Thicke and T.I. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File) Singer Marvin Gaye performs on opening night at Radio City Music Hall, May 17, 1983, New York. (AP Photo/Nancy Kaye) ‹ PHOTOS: Remembering Marvin Gaye - Pasadena Star-News Media Center Share Search File - American soul singer Marvin Gaye walking ahead of his Rolls Royce in Notting Hill, London on October 6, 1976. His life came to a tragic end on April 1, 1984, when Gaye was shot and killed by his own father one day short of his 45th birthday.

(Photo by John Minihan/Evening Standard/Getty Images) File - Singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye is winner of Favorite Soul/R&B Single, "Sexual Healing," at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, Calif., Jan. 17, 1983. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac) File - This is an undated photo of soul singer Marvin Gaye in New York City. (AP Photo) Singer Marvin Gaye performs on opening night at Radio City Music Hall, May 17, 1983, New York. (AP Photo/Nancy Kaye) Marvin Gaye, right, with back up singer Paulette McWilliams at Radio City Music Hall, Tuesday, May 18, 1983, New York. (AP Photo/Nancy Kaye) Marvin Gaye performs at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, May 1983. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis) Marvin Gaye kisses his Grammy Award after he was named top Rhythm & Blues Male Vocalist at the 25th annual Grammy Awards presentation, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 1983, Los Angeles, Calif.

Gaye received two Grammys for Best R & B Instrumental Performance and R & B Male Vocalist for his hit song Sexual Healing. (AP Photo) Soul singer Marvin Gaye is seen with his four-year-old son Frankie after arriving in London for a tour of Europe, June 1980. (AP Photo/Press Association) Singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye, left, is shown with United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, right, and Shirley Temple Black, U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, at the United Nations in New York City, Monday, Oct. 13, 1975. Gaye was donating proceeds from his Sunday performance "Salute to the U.N." to UNESCO for an African literacy campaign. (AP Photo) File - American soul singer Marvin Gaye visits the Mangrove Cafe in All Saint's Road, London, and is mobbed by admirers on the way out to his car on October 1, 1976. (Photo by John Minihan/Evening Standard/Getty Images) Soul singer Marvin Gaye (1939 - 1984) in concert at the Royal Albert Hall on September 29, 1976.

(Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images) Actress Nona Gaye performs a video duet with her late father, singer Marvin Gaye, during the NBA All-Star Saturday Night festivities on February 14, 2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images) Attorney Mark Levinsohn, far left, walks with the late singer, Marvin Gaye's family members, from left, daughter, Nona Gaye, ex-wife, Jan Gaye, and son, Frankie Gaye, outside the Los Angeles U.S. District Court after a jury awarded his children nearly $7.4 million after determining singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied their father's music to create "Blurred Lines," Tuesday, March 10, 2015. Gaye died in April 1984, leaving his children the copyrights to his music. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) In this May 5, 2011 photo, Marvin Gaye memorabilia is displayed at the Motown Historical Museum in Detroit. The Motown Historical Museum is celebrating the life and times, as well as the moves and grooves, of Marvin Gaye.

The Detroit museum, located in the original home of Motown Records Corp., has unveiled an exhibit chronicling the legendary artist's two decades at Motown. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) In this May 5, 2011 photo, Marvin Gaye memorabilia is displayed at the Motown Historical Museum in Detroit. The Motown Historical Museum is celebrating the life and times, as well as the moves and grooves, of Marvin Gaye. The Detroit museum, located in the original home of Motown Records Corp., has unveiled an exhibit chronicling the legendary artist's two decades at Motown. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) British pop singers Seal, right, and Annie Lennox rehearse their duet of Marvin Gaye's soul classic "What's Goin' On" in front of a background portrait of the late singer, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 1996, in preparation for the 38th Annual Grammy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Actress Nona Gaye performs a video duet with her late father, singer Marvin Gaye, during the NBA All-Star Saturday Night festivities on February 14, 2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images) This photo shows the funeral of Singer Marvin Gaye, April 5, 1984, Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/LIU) Motown Records found founder Barry Gordy offers consolation to his sister Anna Gordy Gaye first wife of the late singer Marvin Gaye, Jr., at a public visitation of Gaye's body on April 4, 1984 at Forrest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Singer Stevie Wonder speaks with friends and relatives of Marvin Gaye Jr. during funeral services for the late singer on April 6, 1984 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Gaye was slain in Los Angeles Sunday, the eve of his 45th birthday. (AP Photo/Heung Shing Jiu) Marvin Gaye Sr.

stands in a courtroom during what was to be his arraignment on charges that he shot and killed his son, singer Marvin Gaye Jr., Wednesday, April 5, 1984, Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Heung Shing Liu) Singer Smokey Robinson shares his memories of Marvin Gaye Jr. during funeral services for the late singer in Los Angeles, Calif., April 5, 1984. Gaye was slain by his father, Marvin Gay Sr., in his Los Angeles home, April 1, the eve of his 45th birthday. (AP Photo/Liu Heung Shing) Friends of the late singer Marvin Gaye Jr. bring the casket into the funeral service home at Forrest Lawn Memorial Park, in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 5, 1984. (AP Photo/Heung Shing Liu) Some of the estimated mouring 8, 000 turned out to pay their last respects to the late singer Marvin Gaye Jr. line Church of the Hills for public visitation of the body on April 4, 1984 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

(AP Photo/Nick Ut) FILE - In this April 4, 1984 file photo, Marvin Gaye III escorts his mother Anna Gordy Gaye to the public visitation of the late Marvin Gaye Jr.'s body, at Forrest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File) Police and Los Angeles County Coroners Officials remove the body of singer Marvin Gaye from a Los Angeles hospital after he was pronounced dead after being shot at his parents home, Sunday, April 1, 1984, Los Angeles, Calif. Gayes father, Marvin Gaye, Sr., is being questioned in connection with the shooting. The men in the photo are unidentified. (AP Photo/Nick UT) A Los Angeles Police Department Homicide detective leads Marvin Gaye, Sr. into LAPD Central headquaters in Downtown Los Angeles on April 2, 1984. The senior Gaye was booked in the investigation of the shooting death of his son, singer Marvin Gaye.

(AP Photo/Lennox Mclendon) Los Angeles police officers, neighbors and fans stand in front of the home of singer Marvin Gaye's parent's on April 1, 1984 in Los Angeles where he was shot and killed Sunday afternoon near the downtown section of Los Angeles. Gaye's father Marvin Gaye senior is being questioned by police in connection with the shooting. (AP Photo/Michael Tweed) FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2006 photo, 45's and photographs, including Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder in photo at right, are displayed at the Motown Museum gallery in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Actress Nona Gaye, daughter of singer Marvin Gaye, sings the National Anthem, during the 2004 NBA All-Star at Staples Center, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2004, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/ Kevork Djansezian) FILE - In this Tuesday, March 10, 2015 file photo, Marvin Gaye's daughter, Nona Gaye, left, and his ex-wife, Jan Gaye, take questions from the media outside Los Angeles U.S.

District Court, after a jury awarded the singer's children nearly $7.4 million after determining singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied their father's music to create "Blurred Lines." Marvin Gaye’s family is seeking to stop the distribution of “Blurred Lines.” Gaye’s children filed a motion in court Tuesday, March 17, 2015, to prevent the copying, distributing and performing of the hit song featuring Pharrell, Robin Thicke and T.I. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File) Singer Marvin Gaye performs on opening night at Radio City Music Hall, May 17, 1983, New York. (AP Photo/Nancy Kaye) ‹ PHOTOS: Remembering Marvin Gaye - Press Telegram Media Center Share Search File - American soul singer Marvin Gaye walking ahead of his Rolls Royce in Notting Hill, London on October 6, 1976. His life came to a tragic end on April 1, 1984, when Gaye was shot and killed by his own father one day short of his 45th birthday.

(Photo by John Minihan/Evening Standard/Getty Images) File - Singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye is winner of Favorite Soul/R&B Single, "Sexual Healing," at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles, Calif., Jan. 17, 1983. (AP Photo/Doug Pizac) File - This is an undated photo of soul singer Marvin Gaye in New York City. (AP Photo) Singer Marvin Gaye performs on opening night at Radio City Music Hall, May 17, 1983, New York. (AP Photo/Nancy Kaye) Marvin Gaye, right, with back up singer Paulette McWilliams at Radio City Music Hall, Tuesday, May 18, 1983, New York. (AP Photo/Nancy Kaye) Marvin Gaye performs at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, May 1983. (AP Photo/Suzanne Vlamis) Marvin Gaye kisses his Grammy Award after he was named top Rhythm & Blues Male Vocalist at the 25th annual Grammy Awards presentation, Wednesday, Feb. 24, 1983, Los Angeles, Calif.

Gaye received two Grammys for Best R & B Instrumental Performance and R & B Male Vocalist for his hit song Sexual Healing. (AP Photo) Soul singer Marvin Gaye is seen with his four-year-old son Frankie after arriving in London for a tour of Europe, June 1980. (AP Photo/Press Association) Singer-songwriter Marvin Gaye, left, is shown with United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim, right, and Shirley Temple Black, U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, at the United Nations in New York City, Monday, Oct. 13, 1975. Gaye was donating proceeds from his Sunday performance "Salute to the U.N." to UNESCO for an African literacy campaign. (AP Photo) File - American soul singer Marvin Gaye visits the Mangrove Cafe in All Saint's Road, London, and is mobbed by admirers on the way out to his car on October 1, 1976. (Photo by John Minihan/Evening Standard/Getty Images) Soul singer Marvin Gaye (1939 - 1984) in concert at the Royal Albert Hall on September 29, 1976.

(Photo by Evening Standard/Getty Images) Actress Nona Gaye performs a video duet with her late father, singer Marvin Gaye, during the NBA All-Star Saturday Night festivities on February 14, 2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images) Attorney Mark Levinsohn, far left, walks with the late singer, Marvin Gaye's family members, from left, daughter, Nona Gaye, ex-wife, Jan Gaye, and son, Frankie Gaye, outside the Los Angeles U.S. District Court after a jury awarded his children nearly $7.4 million after determining singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied their father's music to create "Blurred Lines," Tuesday, March 10, 2015. Gaye died in April 1984, leaving his children the copyrights to his music. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) In this May 5, 2011 photo, Marvin Gaye memorabilia is displayed at the Motown Historical Museum in Detroit. The Motown Historical Museum is celebrating the life and times, as well as the moves and grooves, of Marvin Gaye.

The Detroit museum, located in the original home of Motown Records Corp., has unveiled an exhibit chronicling the legendary artist's two decades at Motown. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) In this May 5, 2011 photo, Marvin Gaye memorabilia is displayed at the Motown Historical Museum in Detroit. The Motown Historical Museum is celebrating the life and times, as well as the moves and grooves, of Marvin Gaye. The Detroit museum, located in the original home of Motown Records Corp., has unveiled an exhibit chronicling the legendary artist's two decades at Motown. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) British pop singers Seal, right, and Annie Lennox rehearse their duet of Marvin Gaye's soul classic "What's Goin' On" in front of a background portrait of the late singer, Tuesday, Feb. 27, 1996, in preparation for the 38th Annual Grammy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

(AP Photo/Chris Pizzello) Actress Nona Gaye performs a video duet with her late father, singer Marvin Gaye, during the NBA All-Star Saturday Night festivities on February 14, 2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images) This photo shows the funeral of Singer Marvin Gaye, April 5, 1984, Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/LIU) Motown Records found founder Barry Gordy offers consolation to his sister Anna Gordy Gaye first wife of the late singer Marvin Gaye, Jr., at a public visitation of Gaye's body on April 4, 1984 at Forrest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut) Singer Stevie Wonder speaks with friends and relatives of Marvin Gaye Jr. during funeral services for the late singer on April 6, 1984 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. Gaye was slain in Los Angeles Sunday, the eve of his 45th birthday. (AP Photo/Heung Shing Jiu) Marvin Gaye Sr.

stands in a courtroom during what was to be his arraignment on charges that he shot and killed his son, singer Marvin Gaye Jr., Wednesday, April 5, 1984, Los Angeles, Calif. (AP Photo/Heung Shing Liu) Singer Smokey Robinson shares his memories of Marvin Gaye Jr. during funeral services for the late singer in Los Angeles, Calif., April 5, 1984. Gaye was slain by his father, Marvin Gay Sr., in his Los Angeles home, April 1, the eve of his 45th birthday. (AP Photo/Liu Heung Shing) Friends of the late singer Marvin Gaye Jr. bring the casket into the funeral service home at Forrest Lawn Memorial Park, in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 5, 1984. (AP Photo/Heung Shing Liu) Some of the estimated mouring 8, 000 turned out to pay their last respects to the late singer Marvin Gaye Jr. line Church of the Hills for public visitation of the body on April 4, 1984 at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles.

(AP Photo/Nick Ut) FILE - In this April 4, 1984 file photo, Marvin Gaye III escorts his mother Anna Gordy Gaye to the public visitation of the late Marvin Gaye Jr.'s body, at Forrest Lawn Memorial Park in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File) Police and Los Angeles County Coroners Officials remove the body of singer Marvin Gaye from a Los Angeles hospital after he was pronounced dead after being shot at his parents home, Sunday, April 1, 1984, Los Angeles, Calif. Gayes father, Marvin Gaye, Sr., is being questioned in connection with the shooting. The men in the photo are unidentified. (AP Photo/Nick UT) A Los Angeles Police Department Homicide detective leads Marvin Gaye, Sr. into LAPD Central headquaters in Downtown Los Angeles on April 2, 1984. The senior Gaye was booked in the investigation of the shooting death of his son, singer Marvin Gaye.

(AP Photo/Lennox Mclendon) Los Angeles police officers, neighbors and fans stand in front of the home of singer Marvin Gaye's parent's on April 1, 1984 in Los Angeles where he was shot and killed Sunday afternoon near the downtown section of Los Angeles. Gaye's father Marvin Gaye senior is being questioned by police in connection with the shooting. (AP Photo/Michael Tweed) FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2006 photo, 45's and photographs, including Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder in photo at right, are displayed at the Motown Museum gallery in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya) Actress Nona Gaye, daughter of singer Marvin Gaye, sings the National Anthem, during the 2004 NBA All-Star at Staples Center, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2004, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/ Kevork Djansezian) FILE - In this Tuesday, March 10, 2015 file photo, Marvin Gaye's daughter, Nona Gaye, left, and his ex-wife, Jan Gaye, take questions from the media outside Los Angeles U.S.

District Court, after a jury awarded the singer's children nearly $7.4 million after determining singers Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams copied their father's music to create "Blurred Lines." Marvin Gaye’s family is seeking to stop the distribution of “Blurred Lines.” Gaye’s children filed a motion in court Tuesday, March 17, 2015, to prevent the copying, distributing and performing of the hit song featuring Pharrell, Robin Thicke and T.I. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File) Singer Marvin Gaye performs on opening night at Radio City Music Hall, May 17, 1983, New York. (AP Photo/Nancy Kaye) ‹ Antwaun Gay, younger brother of the late musician Marvin Gaye, poses for a portrait at the Marvin Bar and Restaurant April 2, 2014 in Washington, DC during the 7th annual Marvin Gaye Day celebratio... Pictures | Getty Images Antwaun Gay, younger brother of the late musician Marvin Gaye, poses for a portrait at the Marvin Bar and Restaurant April 2, 2014 in Washington, DC during the 7th annual Marvin Gaye Day celebratio...

April 02, 2014 License Antwaun Gay, younger brother of the late musician Marvin Gaye , poses for a portrait...Antwaun Gay, younger brother of the late musician Marvin Gaye , poses for a portrait at the Marvin Bar and Restaurant April 2, 2014 in Washington, DC during the 7th annual Marvin Gaye Day celebration to honor the 75 birthday of singer and song writer. Gaye was shot and killed by his own father on the eve of his 45th birthday in 1984, leaving behind a remarkable string of hits -- led by 'Let's Get It On,' 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' and 'Sexual Healing' -- that remain pop, funk and soul classics. AFP PHOTO/Brendan SMIALOWSKI LessMore Marvin Gaye is murdered by his father - 1984 Crime Magazine by Michael Thomas Barry On April 1, 1984, singer Marvin Gaye is murdered . At the peak of his career, Gaye was the Prince of Motown—the soulful voice behind many hits.

Over the course of his roughly 25-year recording career, he moved successfully from upbeat pop to "message" music to satin-sheet soul, combining elements of Smokey Robinson, Bob Dylan and Barry White into one complicated and sometimes contradictory package. But as the critic Michael Eric Dyson put it, the man who "chased away the demons of millions...with his heavenly sound and divine art" was chased by demons of his own throughout his life. That life came to a tragic end on April 1, 1984, when Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his own father one day short of his 45th birthday. If the physical cause of Marvin Gaye's death was straightforward, gunshot wound to chest perforating heart, lung and liver. The events that led to it were much more tangled. On the one hand, there was the longstanding conflict with his father dating back to childhood. Marvin Gay, Sr., (the "e" was added by his son for his stage name) was a preacher in the Hebrew Pentecostal Church and a proponent of a strict moral code he enforced brutally with his four children.

He was also, by all accounts, a hard-drinking cross-dresser who personally embodied a rather complicated model of morality. By some reports, Marvin Sr. harbored significant envy over his son's tremendous success, and Marvin Jr. clearly harbored unresolved feelings toward his abusive father. Those feelings spilled out for the final time in the Los Angeles home of Marvin Gay, Sr., and his wife Alberta. Their son the international recording star had moved into his parents' home in late 1983 at a low point in his struggle with depression, debt and cocaine abuse. Only one year removed from his first Grammy win and from a triumphant return to the pop charts with "Sexual Healing," Marvin Gaye was in horrible physical, psychological and financial shape, and now he found himself living in the same house as the man who must have been at the root of many of his struggles. After an argument between father and son escalated into a physical fight on the morning of April 1, 1984, Alberta Gay was trying to calm her son in his bedroom when Marvin Sr. took a revolver given to him by Marvin Jr. and shot him three times in his chest.

Marvin Gaye's brother, Frankie, who lived next door, and who held the legendary singer during his final minutes, later wrote in his memoir that Marvin Gaye's final, disturbing statement was, "I got what I wanted....I couldn't do it myself, so I made him do it." Gaye's father pleaded no contest to a voluntary manslaughter charge after agreeing to a plea bargain in the case. He later died of pneumonia in 1998. Michael Thomas Barry is the author of Murder & Mayhem 52 Crimes that Shocked Early California 1849-1949. The book can be purchased from Amazon through the following link:

Question: Which soul singer was shot and killed by his own father on 1 April 1984 in Los Angeles?
Answer: Marvin Gaye